This is the third and final review from a series of wines offered by Bill Adams - Selected. I started off with Hammond Pinot Noir 2014, then went on to Hammond Riesling 2013, and now I'm cleaning it up with Domaine Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy Côte-Rôtie 2013.
Bill is a wine consultant and a really cool dude that's putting together a portfolio of wines. I'm hoping he lands a distributor here in Massachusetts. His website is under construction but once it's up and running I'll add the link in this review.
So Côte-Rôtie is a region within France's Northern Rhone. There in Northern Rhone you're gonna find that Syrah is the thing, as opposed to Southern Rhone which is mostly Grenache with other varieties blended in like Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault.
There's a few places in Northern Rhone where it has to be 100% Syrah but in most you can add Viognier. Viognier is white and when fermented together with Syrah it brings out the aromatics and actually makes the wine darker. In Côte-Rôtie you can go with 100% Syrah or you can use up to 20% Viognier. This Côte-Rôtie is 98% Syrah, 2% Viognier and has a 12.5% ABV.
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| GAËTAN LAFOY IMAGE CREDIT: domaine-lafoy.com |
Domaine Jocelyne & Yves Lafoy was founded by Jocelyne and Yves in 1993. Their oldest son Gaëtan is currently the winemaker. "Gaëtan is like 25 and has been making the wine since the 2012 vintage," Bill explained to me. "Kid knows his shit. The Côte-Rôtie comes from impossibly steep vineyards, so everything is hand done, no machines, and the view from the vineyards is fucking amazing." I like Bill. Fucking guy talks just like me.
I was instructed to "slosh that mofo into a decanter like it's thick ketchup on a burger" and let it sit for two hours. So that's exactly what I did.
The color of the wine is a dark ruby red with violet highlights. Fine black table pepper, cracked stone, and dates are the primary aromas. Those are followed by undertones of mint and rosemary. It's light to medium bodied and has a tart acidity with firm tannin. There's flavors of blackberries, raspberries, fine black table pepper and leather. It finishes big with tannin and flavors of raspberries and leather.
Elegant is the word that immediately comes to mind when thinking of an overall description. It's a stunning bottle of wine. Personally, for my own tastes, Northern Rhone is not anywhere near my priorities if I had $50 to spend on a red wine. But you know what? I'd have no complaints if I ended up spending it on this one.
QUALITY VS PRICE RATING
Price: $50
Rating: 3.5/5 = Satisfying / Recommended (what does that mean?)
The bottle used was given to me as a personal gift and not for the purpose of this review. I decided myself to utilize it this way. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
The bottle used was given to me as a personal gift and not for the purpose of this review. I decided myself to utilize it this way. To have your wine reviewed follow this link.
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